A New Chapter
by Major Mike Powell III
Summary: Amidst the blue sky, a link from past to future. The sheltering wings of the protector.  1º Ever "K-ON" fic for me. Slight xover with "Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies", nothing drastic, but having played the game kind of helps. Read & Review!


**A New Chapter**

**By Major Mike Powell III**

It has been nine years since the war back in 2003, which came about after the catastrophic event of July 3th, 1999, when the massive Ulysses Asteroid struck the Usean continent. The weapons built in an attempt to destroy it were futile, and amidst the chaos, the nation of Erusea invaded its neighbors using these weapons, marking the beginning of the Usean Continental War.

The Erusean military scored decisive victories over the Independant State Allied Forces coalition, however, the end of the war came in 2005 with the ISAF's victory, very much credited to a single person: a female fighter pilot, leader of the Blue Ribbon Squadron...The legendary Ace of Usea: Mobius-1.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It was a beautiful Spring day in Sakuragaoka City in South Usea and the memory of the night sky lit up by the meteor shower, result of the Ulysses asteroid entering the Earth's atmosphere, the image of a million shooting stars crossing the horizon, was still vivid in the minds of the two sixteen-year-old girls walking through the streets of Sakuragaoka's shopping district.

Yui Hirasawa held and swung Nodoka Manabe's hand as they walked through an indoor gallery, a bright smile on her young face as she looked at the shops and the tantalizing goods they had on display, while her life-long best friend simply revelled in the simple pleasure of watching Yui's bright and care-free smile, as well as the perfect fit of Yui's hand in hers, their fingers intertwined.

Nodoka's heart fluttered when the guitarist's chocolate-brown eyes turned in her direction and the girl's smile was, for the moment, all hers.

"So, Nodoka-chan, what are you looking for?" Yui asked, tilting her head to the side in what the bespectacled girl thought was an absolutely adorable fashion. She quickly got back her composure and looked around the gallery, looking for a certain store.

"Well, I finished my latest model kit yesterday and I received an e-mail from the store, letting me know they had just been delivered a brand new model, and since I have enough money for it, I want to buy it," Nodoka explained, pushing her red-framed glasses up the bridge of her nose with her free hand, before pointing at a store with two large windows with an open glass door in-between them. Scale models of airplanes, cars, boats and sci-fi vehicles of a variety of sizes stood on wooden shelves, expertly and colorfully painted, very much loyal to their full-sized, working counterparts.

Yui's eyes lit up and with a loud "Oooooohhhhh!" she skipped over to the store's entrance, leaning forward and looking at the various models in awe.

"Whoa! These are almost as good as the ones you've done, Nodoka-chan!" The brunette said excitedly, turning her gaze to her best friend and squeezing her hand, earning a flustered and flattered Nodoka in the process.

"Y-Yui! Please, don't say that! Those models were painted by a professional. I'm just a novice compared to them!" Nodoka protested weakly. She wasn't one to have an ego. Instead, she was very humble. But praises like these from Yui put her humility to the test.

If Yui said she was as good as pro modellers, then, she was.

"So, what model is it this time, Nodoka-chan?" Yui asked as she and her friend stepped into the store, being greeted shortly after by a petite, tanned-skinned young woman with neck-lenght green hair and green eyes clothed in the store's red, white and red uniform, with a pair of pilot goggles hanging around her neck, and strangely enough, long and pointy ears, with seamlines which showed they were for cosplay purposes. Yui and Nodoka didn't give them much thought before the girl spoke.

"Good afternoon and welcome to Mirax, ladies! My name is Keira! How can I help you?" she asked in a high-pitched, cheerful voice. Nodoka stepped forth, regrettably pulling her hand away from Yui's to search her purse for a moment before fishing out a slip of paper.

"Hello, thank you. I'm looking for this product," she handed Keira the paper and the woman's green eyes read it for just a second before nodding repeatedly. "I was informed this model kit arrived yesterday. Could you show it to us?"

"Sure thing! Follow me, please!" Keira said and turned on her heel, leading Yui and Nodoka, who had gone back to holding hands, through a couple of hallways flanked by tall shelves filled to the brim with boxes with hundreds of different model kits. Yui looked around in wonder as they walked, never actually having been inside the store.

Finally, they stopped before a particular shelf, and Keira grabbed a 4-step steel ladder, climbed on it and grasped a certain, slightly large box, before climbing back down and handing the box to Nodoka.

"There you go! Product 07245, Limited Edition 1:48 scale F/A-22 Raptor Special of the ISAF by Hasegawa. Does it catch your eye, miss?" Keira spoke, folding her hands in her lap. Nodoka smiled wide at the model kit in her hands, and Yui's eyes widened and her mouth made a n "o".

"Whoa! No way! Nodoka-chan, it looks like...is it...?" The brunette asked in wonder. Nodoka glanced at her and then back at the model, more specifically, the insignia displayed at the bottom right of the box art.

"Yes, Yui. It is. The Blue Ribbon Squadron version of this fighter. And you know what that means," she smiled at her dear friend. Yui stood straight and saluted.

"Mobius-1-san's squadron! Amazing!" She squealed and looked back at the box. Keira chuckled and put her arms behind her back, leaning forward a bit.

"I take it you like it, miss? It can be yours for only 7,000 yen!" She informed them, using a raised index finger for emphasis. Nodoka only thought it over once for the whole of two seconds.

"Very well. I'll take it!" she said with a determined nod. Yui and Keira chuckled.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Roughly ten minutes after Nodoka's purchase, Yui's stomach had come to life with a rather embarrassing growl and the glasses-wearing girl asked her best friend if she wanted to have something to eat, as it was tea time, to which Yui gladly replied: "I know just the place!"

And so, the two girls were now seated comfortably next to the window of the Midori-ya Cafe, Nodoka's new model kit safe in a large, white and red plastic bag with the hobby store's logo in the center sitting on the cushion next to her, an apple stüdel with whipped cream sitting on a plate before Nodoka, who ate slowly, while her beloved friend munched away on her strawberry cheesecake, after telling Nodoka the food was her treat. Yui had won a 5,000 yen gift card at Midori-ya on a lottery a few days earlier.

However, being the very observant girl she was, Nodoka couldn't help but let her eyes wander around the cosy, sweet-smelling café: the establishment's six other tables, all inside the spacious café, were all occupied by young women who seemed to be a lot more than friendly with their respective companions...

On one table, a trio of young women: a blue-eyed redhead with her hair done up in a lopsided ponytail, a red-eyed, very long-haired blonde with a black ribbon holding it together at the base and a blue-eyed brunette with neck-lenght brown hair with yellow and red pins holding a lock of hair away from her face, they all smiled as drank from the same milkshake with three straws.

Next up were a darker-haired redhead with a ponytail and garnet eyes sitting across a blue-eyed girl with her hair done up in a bun, tied together with a white ribbon; the bluenette had a steaming cup of tea before her yet she was much more content feeding her (girl) friend a milk-caramel and chocolate cake, piece by piece, and the redhead was all too happy to oblige, at one moment, eating part of the cake on the fork being offered to her, to later take said fork and telling the bluenette to open up.

Following Nodoka's gaze, we come across a table with a beautiful, very innocent-looking blonde with long hair tied at the top with a bright red ribbon and smiling amethyst eyes ate a slice of lemon pie while chatting very comfortably with a just-as-long-haired bluenette with sapphire eyes with an ojou-sama-like aura around her, looking lovingly at her beautiful companion, holding her unoccupied hand while she elegantly sipped a cup of tea with her other hand.

Next up were a tall woman with long, spiky and straight light-pink hair and deep blue eyes with a soldier-like feel to her despite her normal-looking clothes, sipping coffee and sitting next to a perky and cheerful redhead with pig-tails and light-green eyes, who had a milkshake before her. The tall woman's gaze never left her companion as she sipped from a straw, blushing slightly upon closely inspecting the redhead's lips as they pursed and sucked on the straw, completely oblivious to the pinkette's loving eyes.

Coming up was a small group sitting on a table for four; a honey-brunette with crimson eyes and a bright smile and a busty, short-haired orange-head with violet eyes clinging to her arm sat across from a navy-blue haired girl with emmerald-green eyes and a wolf-shaped pin in her hair and a tough-girl feel to her, next to a snarky, short-haired redhead with mischievous lime-green eyes wearing a paperboy hat with a pair of goggles on top. They were chatting amiably; the brunette and orangehead making the bluenette blush and the redhead simply filing her nails, chuckling, before wrapping her arms around the bluenette's shoulders and pecking her on the cheek, which only made the girl blush harder and make her companions laugh out loud.

And last but not least, Nodoka's eyes landed on a pair of girls sitting nearest: a pale-skinned girl with stormy blue eyes and long, jet-black hair reaching down to her waist sat across a light-brown-haired girl with emmerald-green eyes and the most peculiar detail about these two girls were the high-end camcorder in the black-haired girl's hand, pointed straight at her brunette companion. She sighed happily after, despite letting out an embarrassed "Hoeehhh", the brunette girl placed her hand on her pale friend's, earning a happy sigh and a whispered (and this made Nodoka blush) "_Aishiteru, Tomo-chan~"._

Now, back with Nodoka and Yui, the bespectacled girl finished eating her strüdel just as Yui finished her third piece of cake, nearing the top of her gift card. The brunette blinked twice at her life-long friend, noticing the crimson blush spread across Nodoka's cheeks.

"Eh? Nodoka-chan? Are you Ok? Your face is all red. Are you feeling sick?" She asked with concern, leaning across the table to press her forehead against Nodoka's to check if she had a fever. The girl almost panicked as she saw Yui's face not even an inch away from hers.

"A-Ah, Yui! D-Don't worry! I'm just fine, I just...err..." Yui seemed satisfied with this reply, so she smiled and leaned back.

"What's up, Nodoka-chan?" She asked innocently. Nodoka lowered her voice to a whisper.

"Yui, um...do you...have you noticed how, well..._friendly..._the ladies around us are?" she asked carefully, trying to get the message through to her dear friend. The guitarist looked around at the couples around them, before looking back at Nodoka with her eyes looking at nowhere, a clear sign that she was thinking hard.

She remained this way for almost a full minute...before smiling wide and flashing Nodoka a toothy grin.

"Heh! I guess Mugi-chan would have a field day with all the yu-!" Yui didn't finish because Nodoka had gently put her index finger to her friend's lips and smiled softly. She released a sigh she didn't know she was holding.

"Yes, I do believe Kotobuki-san would be off in la-la land by now, eh? Yui...I want to take you somewhere. Let's go, Ok?" She asked with a soft blush across her face. Yui blinked twice before taking out her gift card.

"Sure thing, Nodoka-chan!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A minute after Nodoka and Yui had paid and left, hand in hand, the café owner: a beautiful, adult redhead with long hair and blue eyes smiled as she prepared a capuccino. If her hunch was correct, those two girls might become just a bit closer. After all, she WAS right about her own daughter and her two friends...

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Nodoka led Yui to a small park on a road not too far from their usual route to school; they walked along a cobblestone path covered in shrubs and flanked by trees planted years earlier.

Soon, the two girls reached a cemented clearing with nobody in sight and a statue in the middle...

"Whoa...! This is...!" Yui said in wonder, her brown eyes wide open, her hold on Nodoka's hand tightening slightly, with her friend squeezing back in kind.

"Yes, Yui. This is her...Mobius-1," Nodoka spoke softly as she and Yui looked up at the in-flight-like statue of the famous F/A-22 Raptor fighter jet piloted by the woman who single-handedly ended the Usean Continental War, now immortalized by the people she fought to protect.

Yui then took notice of a small plaque at the bottom of the statue. She walked closer, gently pulling Nodoka along. She looked at the plaque and read it aloud...

"Amids the blue skies, a link from past to future, the sheltering wings of the protector..." She looked back up at the statue. "I remember, Nodoka-chan...I remember watching the meteor shower when we were little...it looked so beautiful from this place...but it also started a war...and then, Mobius-1-san ended it...and we returned to this place to pay respect to her..."

Nodoka smiled wide and nodded before gently taking her hand away from Yui's and, under the brunette's confused gaze, Nodoka walked up behind her and embraced her around the shoulders, having placed her bag with her model kit carefully on the ground next to them.

She rested her cheek against Yui's, who gently nuzzled into Nodoka's embrace.

"Yui...My dear, dear Yui...here, under this blue sky, and where we watched the start of everything and then, the start of the peace...I'm asking you..." She intoned into Yui's ear..."Let me be your link from past to future. Let me...be your protector."

Yui smiled as a deep blush set her cheeks ablaze. She turned around in Nodoka's arms and gently cupped her blushing friend's cheeks.

She then leaned in and gently pressed her lips against Nodoka's, making both of their hearts flutter and bodies warm. After she pulled away...

"Yes, Nodoka-chan. Shelter me in your wings...My Protector."

_FIN_

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

**A/N: **HEADS UP, MARINES! OFFICER ON DECK!

(Salutes) As you were, people.

Greetings, my fellow "K-ON" and yuri fans! This is Major Mike Powell III, reporting in with my 1º EVAR fic on this particular section, and...I still CAN'T believe I decided to go through with this. LOL Seriously...a xover between "K-ON" and "Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies"? What the Hell was I smokin'...? X_x

But!

I will let YOU, the discerning reader, to decide wether thislittle story was worth the time and effort I put into it. ^_^

Oh yeah, and a virtual brownie goes to whomever says what series/games the guest characters in this fic come from! ^o^

So, with that said, I once again hope I made a good first impression upon you people, and that you let me know through a review or two. :3

Oh yes, and to Anna-chan and Cobalt-chan...this story is for you, ladies. Thank you SO much for your help! (Heart)

Thanks again!

_Semper-Fi! _Carry on!


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